Soviet First League
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The Soviet First League was the second highest division of Soviet football, below the Soviet Top League. The division lasted from the inception of Soviet league football in 1936 to the dissolution of USSR in 1991.
It has been known as Group B, Group 2, Class B, and Class A, group 2 before being renamed First League in 1971. The number of teams playing at this level fluctuated significantly during the history of Soviet football. In 1940s-1970s the league frequently consisted of several regional groups. The group winners qualified for the final tournament. One unusual feature of the league was that before 1989 clubs only received points for drawing a third of their games. After that they received no points for any further draws. In 1987 for example Fakel(Voronezh) FC were relegated by 1 point having received no points for 2 drawn games. [[1]]
| Season | Winner | Participants | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 (spring) | Dinamo Tiflis | 8 | |
| 1936 (autumn) | Serp i Molot Moscow | 8 | |
| 1937 | Spartak Leningrad | 8 | |
| 1938 | not held, there was only one division | ||
| 1939 | Krylya Sovetov Moscow | 23 | single round robin |
| 1940 | Krasnaya Zarya Leningrad | 14 | |
| 1941-44 | abandoned due to World War II | ||
| 1945 | Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev | 18 | single round robin |
| 1946 | VVS Moscow | 26 | two groups |
| 1947 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 67 | six groups |
| 1948 | Lokomotiv Kharkiv | 75 | seven groups |
| 1949 | Spartak Tbilisi | 84 | six groups |
| 1950 | VMS Moscow | 14 | |
| 1951 | Kalinin city team | 18 | |
| 1952 | Lokomotiv Kharkiv | 18 | three preliminary groups, two final groups |
| 1953 | Dynamo Minsk | 30 | three preliminary groups, eight final groups |
| 1954 | Shakhtyor Stalino | 36 | three groups |
| 1955 | Burevestnik Chisinau ODO Sverdlovsk |
32 | two groups, no final |
| 1956 | Spartak Minsk Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev |
36 | two groups, no final |
| 1957 | Avangard Leningrad | 64 | four groups |
| 1958 | SKVO Rostov-on-Don | 94 | six groups |
| 1959 | Admiralteyets Leningrad | 101 | seven groups; final was held for RSFSR teams only |
| 1960 | Trud Voronezh (RSFSR) Metalurh Zaporizhzhya (UkrSSR) Torpedo Kutaisi (other republics) |
142 | nine groups, three separate finals |
| 1961 | Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev (RSFSR) Chornomorets Odessa (UkrSSR) Torpedo Kutaisi (other republics) |
147 | ten groups, three separate finals |
| 1962 | Spartak Krasnodar (RSFSR) Trudovye Rezervy Lugansk (UkrSSR) Shakhtyor Karaganda (other republics) |
137 | ten groups, three separate finals |
| 1963 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 18 | |
| 1964 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 27 | two preliminary groups, two final groups |
| 1965 | Ararat Yerevan | 32 | two preliminary groups, two final groups |
| 1966 | Zorya Luhansk | 53 | three groups |
| 1967 | Dynamo Kirovabad | 59 | three groups |
| 1968 | Uralmash Sverdlovsk | 84 | four groups |
| 1969 | Spartak Ordzhonikidze | 87 | five groups |
| 1970 | Karpaty Lviv | 22 | |
| 1971 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 22 | |
| 1972 | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 20 | |
| 1973 | Chornomorets Odessa | 20 | |
| 1974 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 20 | |
| 1975 | Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev | 20 | |
| 1976 | Kairat Almaty | 20 | |
| 1977 | Spartak Moscow | 20 | |
| 1978 | Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev | 20 | |
| 1979 | Karpaty Lviv | 24 | |
| 1980 | Tavriya Simferopol | 24 | |
| 1981 | Metalist Kharkiv | 24 | |
| 1982 | Žalgiris Vilnius | 22 | |
| 1983 | Kairat Almaty | 22 | |
| 1984 | Fakel Voronezh | 22 | |
| 1985 | Daugava Rīga | 22 | two preliminary groups, two final groups |
| 1986 | CSKA Moscow | 24 | |
| 1987 | Chornomorets Odessa | 22 | |
| 1988 | Pamir Dushanbe | 22 | |
| 1989 | CSKA Moscow | 22 | |
| 1990 | Spartak Vladikavkaz | 20 | |
| 1991 | Rotor Volgograd | 22 |
[edit] References
- USSR First League. KLISF. Retrieved on 2006-06-09.
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